


Helpless

by shessocold



Series: I Told I'd Always Love You, I Always Did, I Always Will [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Animagus, Best Friends, Canon Compliant, Crushes, Dreams, Family Issues, First Crush, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Happy, Hogwarts, Hogwarts House Sorting Ceremony, Invisibility Cloak, Love at First Sight, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Friendship, Marauders' Era, POV Sirius Black, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Werewolf Remus Lupin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-23 00:29:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13775850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shessocold/pseuds/shessocold
Summary: Sirius loves Remus from the very beginning.





	Helpless

By the time 'Lupin, Remus' gets sorted into Gryffindor, Sirius has already fallen in love with him.

He doesn't know it immediately, of course, partly because he's eleven and partly because he's too busy being simultaneously elated and terrified by the results of his own Sorting. Gryffindor! How brilliant. Mother is going to _kill_ him. He glances at his cousins, over at the Slytherin table: Andromeda looks frankly shocked, and even Narcissa – the least demonstrative person Sirius has ever met, and that's saying something, considering how he doesn't think he's ever seen his own father smile – seems a little bemused by the whole thing. Sirius decides that he'd better write home as soon as he can, if he doesn't want one of them to break the news to his parents before he does. 

Remus takes a seat at the Gryffindor table, directly opposite Sirius. Somehow, he looks just as panicked and overjoyed as Sirius feels. Sirius grins at him. Remus grins back, but Sirius has the distinct impression of being looked through, rather than looked at. The idea annoys him greatly. 

“Told you you seemed alright!” says James-from-the-train, his glasses askew, plopping himself on the bench next to Sirius. “None of that Slytherin nonsense for you, mate. There was never a doubt in my mind. Look, it's that oily git from the train – I pity the person who has to put the Hat on after he's done.” 

Sirius snorts. The snotty girl with the red hair glares at them. Remus keep staring off in the distance, still smiling, a dazed look on his face. The Sorting goes on. 

** 

Remus disappears and Sirius nearly drives himself insane with worry. 

“McGonagall told you that he's OK, right?” says James, in what he probably imagines to be a sensible tone, as he watches Sirius pace their dorm. “That means that there's no need to fret.” 

Sirius shakes his head. 

“She didn't say that he's _OK_ , she said that it was none of my business.” 

“Fair enough, but I'm sure that what she meant– ” 

“Will you please shut up for a second?” shouts Sirius, frustrated. Peter flinches. James raises his eyebrows. 

“No need to yell at me, mate. I didn't hide him or anything. I'm just trying to help.” 

“I know, you're right,” says Sirius, embarassed by his own outburst. “I really think he's in the infirmary. If only there was a way for me to check...” 

“Do you want to go now?” 

“What? McGonagall told me that she's going to have me expelled, if she finds me out of bed again.” 

James laughs. 

“And you believed her? Blimey, Sirius, you're pretty gullible, aren't you?” 

Sirius feels his cheeks turn pink. 

“She looked like she meant it,” he mutters. “But maybe it would be worth it, if–” 

“Look,” says James, interrupting Sirius' vague train of thought, “if you want to go, I have something my old man gave me that will make it a lot easier for us to sneak around.” 

“For _us_?” 

James rolls his eyes. 

“Yeah, obviously, genius – did you think that I was going to let you risk it on your own?” 

Sirius beams at James. James beams back. Peter lets out a nervous little chuckle. 

** 

In his dream, Sirius strokes the fresh scars on Remus' arms until the skin stops being red and angry. _Thank you_ , says dream-Remus, in a sappy tone than would leave actual-Remus horrified, _you're such a good friend, Sirius. I love you._

Sirius wakes up with a big smile on his face, a smile which turns into a snort of laughter once he catches sight of Remus' vaguely murderous early morning face. 

“What's so funny?” inquires James, yawning hugely. 

“Nothing,” says Sirius, the silly dream scene a warm, pleasant weight in his chest. “C'mon, let's go down to breakfast, I'm starving.” 

** 

James, back from spending Christmas at home in their second year, is the one who comes up with the idea of becoming Animagi. 

“I looked it up,” he tells Sirius and Peter, while Remus is away for the full moon. “We wouldn't be in any danger, if we turned into animals.” 

“Brilliant,” says Sirius, “let's start right away!” 

Peter clears his throat, pointedly. 

“Yes, Peter?” says James, clearly bothered by the lack of enthusiasm on Peter's part. 

“He wouldn't be a danger in the sense that he wouldn't turn us into werewolves, OK,” says Peter, nervously, glancing in turn at Sirius' and James' faces. “But that doesn't mean that he wouldn't _hurt_ us – I mean, he's a werewolf!” 

James glares at him. 

“Say that again a bit more loudly, Peter, will you? I think a few people down in the Slytherin dorms might not have heard you.” 

“For fuck's sake, Peter,” says Sirius, in anger. “You've seen what he does to himself when he's all alone in that place. Who cares if it's dangerous?” 

Peter looks extremely unconvinced. Sirius feels like punching some sense into him. 

“Look, Pete, it won't be dangerous at all,” says James, giving Sirius a warning look. Sirius unclenches his fists. “My dad says that werewolves are only ever aggressive towards human beings. Besides, if it turns out that we transform into something really stupid – say, a lobster – then we needn't go through with the plan. But it's worth a try, right?” 

“Wait, you told _your father_ that Moony is a werewolf?” 

James takes his glasses off to clean them with the hem of his shirt. 

“Not in so many words, no,” he says, finally, in an oddly defiant tone. “But he gave me the book about Animagi, yes. He... he _gets_ it.” 

Sirius takes a deep breath. He's trying to imagine what his father would do if he told him about Remus – have Remus beheaded and mounted in the hallway next to all the old house elves, probably. He shudders. 

“So, are you in?” says James, putting his glasses back on. “Are we going to try? Pete?” 

Peter sighs. 

“All right,” he says, eventually. “There's no guarantee, anyway – maybe we'll never be able to figure it out.” 

“Don't worry,” says Sirius, clapping him on the back. “We'll give you all the help you might need.” 

Peter groans softly. 

“It's going to be a lot of fun,” says James, grinning broadly. “I promise.” 

Sirius grins back.

**Author's Note:**

> Fleamont Potter straight-up gave James the Invisibility Cloak, so listen, I feel like the Animagus tip is pretty in character for him.


End file.
